June 27, 2011

Long June Days

June's been flying by and I’ve been stitching like a crazed woman--and actually getting a few things done (for a change).It must be the long June days.

First off, I finished stitching the Capriccio blocks from last month together. Now they’re a completed top, but I didn't take a photo to show. :( (I’ll take one soon—maybe next month.)

Then, since I couldn’t seem to remember to have my husband move some heavy boxes so I could find my June’s UFO, and since my living room floor was empty after finishing up Capriccio, I started working again on this project from back in March.Do you remember these blocks?

They were for a quilt based on the Stripping Vine quilt made by Kathy Doughty shown in the book, Material Obsession.

I made the star blocks in March, but then got sidetracked by other projects.This month, I decided it wouldn’t take that much longer to move them along into a top.

So the blocks were stitched together in columns (there are 3 columns here--not connected, just next to each other on the design wall.)

Turquoise strips of dogwoods were added in between the orange columns.

Then a black and white stripe was added to the top and bottom. And I finished it all off with a floral border that just seemed to belong. I love the fabric--Pom Pom Dahlias by Philip Jacobs. The extra borders are not part of the original pattern design.

And now it’s a completed top! Hooray! This isn’t a very good photo, but it’s the best I can get of it for now. It’s a bit of an odd color/fabric combination, but it makes me happy, so I don’t care. Since the colors are similar to what I’m using for the Single Girl quilt, I’ve decided to postpone a decision on the back until I’ve finished cutting for that so I can see which fabrics are left before I decide if I want to piece the back for it.

And then, the floor was empty again and since my living room was already a fabric disaster area, I decided that I could finish the borders on one of my UFO's (#7 Teal Quilt). Here's the finished top--it’s now waiting to be quilted. It's a king size, so I'll be stitching on binding for a L O N G time before it's finished, but at least it's moving in the right direction.

June's been a good month—at least for stitching. Not so good for my mother-in-law, though, who took a fall and ended up in the hospital with a fracture this past week. She is now on the mend, and starting to walk again with help. It will be a slow recovery I'm afraid. Although the hospital's been a good place to stitch a little Flower Garden applique, I'm guessing July is going to be too busy for much stitching.

And, good news--my sister and her husband are back at work--still coughing and tiring way too easily, but they seem to be finally winning the Whooping Cough battle! And lucky ducks--they get to spend the weekend with my lovely daughter!

And lest you wonder, I’ve even been working on my June UFO. Really I have and it's almost done!Photo of it soon... Happy Stitching! And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Nate & Kim!